February 11, 2011

Maya’s dynamics tools for the visual effects artist are some of the best in the business. This video tutorial examines two Maya features that are commonly used in the industry: Particles and Fluids. First we use particles to generate a starfield background, building on our knowledge from the Magic Wand tutorial. Then we launch into 3D Fluids to create the effect of rocket exhaust.

This is an hour-long series of seven free videos. Some of the learning outcomes of this tutorial include:

Customize Particle and Emitter attributes
Create a 3D Fluid Container with a Fluid Emitter
Adjust parameters in real time with Interactive Playback
Control fluid dynamic attributes such as Dissipation and Temperature
Direct Incandescence, Opacity, and other shading properties
Set Initial State and create a Fluid nCache
Animate the Fluid Container in a hierarchy

Supplemental material

fluids_rocket_start.zip

This small Zip file includes a Maya ASCII scene used in the tutorial. It includes a simple rocket model linked to a control curve, a renderable Camera and a single Directional light.

Supplemental material

Lesson Notes

Lesson Notes complement tutorials. They reduce complex multi-stage procedures to short bullet points. Brief explanations reinforce key concepts. The outline format helps learners focus on the content, rather than spend a lot of time reading. To access Lesson Notes, you need to join the guild.

Here is a sample of the Lesson Notes:

1. Starfield
   1. Dynamics > Particles > Create Emitter > Options
      1. Emitter Type: Omni
      2. Rate should be pretty high, we can start at 1,000 particles per second
      3. To create a “shell” of particles around the stage, set Max Distance and Min Distance to be the same value
         1. Values should be based upon the scale of your scene
      4. Speed = 0
   2. Number of particles
      1. Particle Shape > Max Count limits the total number of particles
         1. With a default value of -1, it is disabled
         2. Set to a value of 10,000, and the particles stop emitting after ten seconds
            1. 1,000 particles per second * 10 seconds = 10,000 particles

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